traveller123

From VN Express
“One’s true gender is unchangeable. If we, parents of LGBTQ+ people, want happiness for both us and them, we need to change our mindset.”
Meet Nguyen Lang Mong, a woman living in HCMC, whose advice this is to people who face a psychological battle in accepting their LGBTQ+ children.
She is the leader of PFLAG Vietnam (Parents, Families and Friends of LGBTQ+), founded in 2011.
Every week, Mong, whose son is gay, receives phone calls and messages for help from three or four people with LGBTQ+ children.
At first their typical reaction is to try and make their children "normal."
But by sharing her story and knowledge, she shows them there is nothing wrong with their offspring and that having an LGBTQ+ child is not a shame.
She says: "Many parents don't understand this community and they have deep-rooted prejudices against LGBTQ+. When they know more about their children, they will give up their prejudices and accept them the way they are more easily. It is the most important thing for our kids."
Mong’s advice for the parents is drawn from her own struggle in accepting her gay son 11 years ago.
At first she did not believe her son, now 29, was not straight and scolded him for imitating his gay friends. The relationship between mother and son deteriorated and tension escalated for a year.
Then one day she found out her son had tried to commit suicide, which came as a wake-up call to her.
"It freaked me out. I thought I couldn’t keep treating my son that way."
She then began to learn about LGBTQ+ people and realized they were not as "bad and indisciplined" as she had thought.
"If he is happy living the way he truly is, I am happy too."
Mong and her son’s is a typical and heartwarming story of the progress made by Vietnamese society in recent times in accepting the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier this month the Ministry of Health sent an announcement to provincial and municipal health departments and posted it on the government website. It said being LGBTQ+ "is entirely not an illness", and it "cannot be ‘cured’ nor needs to be ‘cured’ and cannot be changed in any way."
Continues at
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/trend/clash-of-views-on-lgbtq-in-vietnam-4505406.html
 
 

Part 1: Traveling to and arriving in Bangkok
 
 
It was last February I decided to start planning and booking my trip.
Qatar Airways was having great deals with free cancellation option. I didn’t want to go to Thailand using any Sandbox- or Quarantine-scheme. Too much of a hassle for me. I thought let’s book the flights for October as I was thinking by than life will be almost “back to normal” again. And when for some reason that would not be the case, I could cancel my flights and get a 100% refund.
It was before fuel prices went up and Russia invaded Ukraine. So I was lucky to be able to book business class seats from Amsterdam to Bangkok for only 750 euro per way, so in total it was around 1500 euro. In my opinion, Qatar has one of the best Business Class products in the world. Q-suites. Maybe even the best. Both my Amsterdam-Doha and the Doha-Bangkok flight were planned to be flown with planes
that are equipped with Q-suites. So much space and privacy! In my opinion this is almost first class, with your own little cabin that can be closed for ith a sliding door. Love it. And it’s so nice to be able to have a good sleep in flight and arrive in Bangkok relaxed and not too tired.

Q-suites cabine of Qatar Airways 
It was just after I checked in for my flights that I received an email fro Qatar Airways. The aircraft type of the flight Doha-Bangkok would because of "operational reasons" be changed and not have Q-suites on board. Actually, when you Google search, you will find out many complains about this and it seems Qatar Airways is doing this regularly. I was very disappointed that on my 2nd flight I would be in their old Business Class product in a 2-2-2 configuration. Less space, less confort, less privacy. It was a night flight. So they dimmed the cabin nights and actually the entire business class cabin went to sleep. So I was able to get some decent rest during the flight in the end. And the food was still very good, as it was on my first flight that did have the Q-suite expierence. 

Old Qatar Airways business class cabin, as I was having on my Doha-Bangkok flight 
My flight touched down in Bangkok just after 1pm. The long walk to immigration followed. I could use the fast-lane and there was only 1 other traveller waiting before me. But also the normal waiting line at immigration for economy class passengers was not long at all. What a difference with pre-covid. I remember extreme long queues there. 
Within 1hr after arriving, I finished immigration, got my luggage, taken some bahts from the atm, bought and activated a Thai simcard and was on my way to Silom in a taxi. The driver asked me 600 baht including tollway, not using the meter. Thats seemed a fair price for me. As Bolt was charging 500 baht without toll fee. 
I decided not only to spoil myself with the flight, but also to stay in Le Meridien hotel for the first 3 nights in Bangkok. Let’s say this was my way of celebrating my return to Bangkok… Same as for my flights, I was able to get a very good deal and ended up paying only 75 euro per night.

My room in Le Méridien
Smooth check-in, beautiful room with bath and seperate shower and view over the city on the 17th floor. You need a keycard to activate the elevator. So can't invite any boys into the room without getting them from the street / reception yourself. That's a small minus for me. As I like to be able to say to a boy I like on Grindr just to come up to my room. 

View from my room in Le Méridien 
I was in my room around 3pm and not much later Bangkok greeted me with thunder and rain. Decided to take a little nap. Woke up at 6pm. Took a nice bath while writing this report and to fresh up and get ready to hit the streets for dinner and some quick first bar exploring on my first night in Bangkok... 

Part 0: Ready for take off
While I'm writing this, I am at the airport waiting for my flight to Bangkok via Doha. Ready for almost 1 month in Thailand.
Bangkok, Chiang Rai & Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket… I have a busy schedule ahead. Planning to make an interesting trip-report for you guys. Off course with up-to-date information about all “boy fun” on offer at the moment. But also some non-sexual (boring…? haha) stuff.
Any requests on what to check out while I’m around, let me know.
The first time I came to Bangkok was in February 2013. As starting point for a two-month round tour in South-East Asia. It was my first time travelling solo. A big adventure. I instantly felt in love with SE-Asia. Not only because of the easy-to-get guys, but also because of
the culture, nature and food. As a result, I would come back every year. As I worked in tourism, I had 3 months off every year in European low-season; the best months to travel in SE-Asia. I even managed to work in Phuket / Khao Lak a few months for the company a few years later. A dream come true.
My last holiday in Thailand was in January / February 2020, just before covid19 hit. And now, after more than two years I am finally coming back! In my favourite city: Bangkok. It’s busy, smelly, humid and noisy. But somehow I like how vibrant it is. I’ve always been more a city-person than a beach-person.
I was thinking about all the good memories I have in Bangkok. The many nights I’ve spent in Soi Twilight. You couldn’t enter that alley for 5 meters without being groped, touched and seduced by bar staff, moneyboys and touts trying to lurk you into their club for a “big cock show”. All fighting for your attention and money.

Entrance of Soi Twilight in the old days
I usually started the night with a drink on the terrace of Maxis bar. While sipping my rum&coke I could watch all the craziness going on in Soi Twilight. From there you had a good view on the massage boys of Bangkok Massage waiting for customers. Laughing girls passing by. Straight couples with the guy holding hands with his girlfriend and having a scared look in his eyes. Solo male tourists getting in ando ut of XBoys, Fresh Boys or Dream Boys. With or without their “catch of the day”.
The first show I watched was at Dream Boys. How shocked I was seeing the act with the ladyboy with the very small penis and the acrobatic fuck show. And you could just choose from the guys on stage by telling the staff which number you like? A bit like Chinese take-away restaurant: choose what looks tasty from the menu, tell them what number you want and take home to enjoy… A whole new world to me; buto one I found very interesting and exciting. I also remember another club at the end of Soi Twilight that had a big water tank, where boys would swim in to do some kind of underwater erotic show. Was it Classic Boys?

Watch this YouTube video to see how it was in Soi Twilight the good old days.
Anyhow; I was used to all of it pretty soon. The shows in the different bars didn’t shock me anymore. After you’ve seen a few, you come to the conclusion they are all “same, same”. The only thing that kept me intrigued for some time, was the act where they slam their
hard cocks with a loud bang into a metal pole. That must hurt! But somebody told me they really don’t slam their cock that hard into the pole. The noise is made because the slam something else (feet/leg?) into the pole at the same moment, so it looks the cock is making a harder impact than it actually does. But I never managed to actually see prove of this theory myself.

Soi Twilight closed down (2020)
Why am I writing this? Because as we all know Soi Twilight is gone. The last time I was in Bangkok, I had to settle with Patpong 2 instead. It’s good that some of the bars and clubs from Twilight found a new home in Patpong 2. But in 2020 I felt Patpong 2 was by far not having that special vibe that Twilight had. And for sure, covid19 will not have done anything good to change it become better.
But let’s look at the bright side: Bangkok still has a lot to offer when it comes to boybars, erotic shows and sexy guys. And I’m about to go on a big adventure in the LOS again.

As readers know by now, I can't resist passing along a great dog story. I think the Soi Dog Foundation has a lot of good ones to tell.
From the Thaiger
Soi Dog Foundation vaccinates over 700 stray dogs

Soi Dog Foundation, a non-profit organisation, recently carried out its annual vaccination campaign at the Phuket Stray Dog Shelter in Thalang district, also known as the “government dog compound.”
A team of Soi Dog veterinarians, community outreach staff, rescue officers, and a representative from the Phuket Provincial Office of the Department of Livestock Development came together to vaccinate 735 resident dogs at the government-operated facility. 
The dogs received vital vaccinations against six diseases including rabies, distemper, and parvovirus.
International Director of Soi Dog, Dr Alicja Izydorczyk, commented on the importance of the campaign…
“Annual vaccinations of shelter dogs are a must and should be standard at every dog shelter. Distemper and parvovirus are extremely contagious, and both are very common in Thailand, killing hundreds of thousands of dogs every year.”
“If dogs in a shelter are not vaccinated regularly, there is a very high chance of an outbreak which can easily kill half of the shelter dog population.”
The most common health issues faced by strays at the shelter are dog bite wounds, fungal and other skin diseases, diarrhea, and coughing. Any dogs suffering from more serious health problems are transferred to the Soi Dog Hospital in Mai Khao for further treatment.
All this care bears a great cost. Soi Dog allocations approximately  2 million baht every year to veterinary treatments and prophylaxis for the shelter dogs. The foundation does not receive government funding but relies on the donations of kind dog lovers from all around the world. 

I was saddened to hear about your fears of memory loss. I'm in my late 70's and every time I can't grasp the word I'm looking for, that thought crosses my mind. Usually I recall it later but it still troubles me.
Your writing certainly doesn't reflect any signs of it. You express yourself clearly and without repetition.
The forums has become more of a sounding board for members to acknowledge fears, many associated with aging. I think that's one of the true benefits of a site like this that we can unburden ourselves of some of our fears and also describe what gives us joy.
I wish you well and thank you for trusting others of us with your concerns about the disease.

Agate's prices at the moment are good value. I paid 1000 pn last month; and I'm paying 1,200 for my next trip (for which I cannot wait!) in November.  No breakfast though; we ate at Zing. Charming staff there too!
Agate's public areas are 4* plus, if that's important to you.  They are to us. P and I would gaze at and appreciate all the exhibits in the glass cases in the corridors. Other Agate guests will know what I mean! And its two pools are a blessing if sprogs appear.... P and I always had the sea-water one to ourselves.
As I always say, don't use Agoda or Booking; book direct with the hotel. Much cheaper.

I think the Cambodian boys tell the wildest stories. A boy I met was telling me how he needed extra money to help his family back in Cambodia. It all started when his grandparents were forced out of a large city and had to quit their jobs to grow rice in the rural area. They had good jobs, the grandma was a designer of clothes and the father a teacher. But they had to leave the jobs and all their possessions behind in the city! 
Then here’s the craziest thing he said of all. The entire city all had to leave their jobs and all their possessions behind and grow food for everyone else. They worked like slaves for 12 hours each day with only a small cup of rice. If they refused to work for almost nothing they would be killed. 
 
Young teenagers with rifles would boss everyone around. Many were tortured and executed for being traitors. But this boy’s grandfather managed to escape and make his way to a Red Cross humanitarian camp across the border. He remarried and had many children. They now live in Cambodia but had to start all over.
I told him not to make up such crazy stories that could never happen, at least in our lifetimes. He insisted it was all true. Can you believe the bs some of these money boys spout off!?

On my infrequent visits to Pattaya I stayed there about 6 times. It was located on the right down the quiet Thappraya Soi 1. I loved it. It had only six bungalows set around the pool. In addition there was a  bar and they served an excellent breakfast, although no other meals. They almost encouraged you to bring guests back and, yes, they gave you a key to the gate because it was closed at 10:00 pm. When I first stayed it was run by the two French guys. The last time I was there about 5 years ago they had split up and only one guy owned it. 
The website with a booking form is no longer.  I suspect it might be closed although both agoda and booking.com are taking bookings. On their sites high season rates are around 2,250 baht per night without breakfast which is roughly what was being charged 5 years ago.

 

Indeed they are not.
Love is placing the other person's well being on a par with your own.  It's being emotionally available as a confidant and friend. It's accepting the other person's foibles as he accepts yours. It's taking joy in each other's company. It's mutual affection and trust. It's the realization that you are unquestionably happy and fulfilled when you are together.
I've found that I need that experience in my life.
And I agree that it has nothing whatsoever to do with sex.

Guess I'll just count myself as very lucky. The last six years of my life have been the happiest of the preceding 70. Up until that point I'd always considered myself a committed butterfly.
I don't concern myself with "true" love. I'm perfectly happy just to have someone simply to love. I don't need a litmus test with which to measure it.
We insulate ourselves by the use of language. We become "clients", young men become "professionals." That makes it easier to put the required emotional distance between us. For many, that's a healthy way to look at it. The parties part ways without emotional baggage.
I tip my hat to all those who find contentment in their later years without any emotional attachments. At one time I counted myself in that camp. And then a simple smile turned my life on a dime. You may think of me as foolhardy and delusional. So be it. But you can't feel what I feel; know what I know.
We all came to Thailand because we sought sexual intimacy we couldn't find at home. Please be tolerant of those of us who discovered emotional intimacy and affection in that same pursuit.

This forum regularly sees members unabashedly post about fucking boys, sucking boys, kissing boys and rimming boys.
Odd how when someone suggests loving boys the naysayers come out of the woodwork.
Just saying.

Pete Buttigieg Opens Up About Twins' Birth, Health Issues for 1st Time The secretary and his husband, Chasten, had previously avoided going into specifics.
   In a new piece written on his Medium account, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg details how he became a father. Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, first announced they were first set to become fathers in August 2021. The news came after the pair had previously explained their adoption struggles. In early September, the two announced the birth of their first children, Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg. Now they have confirmed that the children were adopted. "It was what they call a 'surprise' adoption scenario — a mother had given birth that day and wanted to arrange adoption," Pete writes in a new Medium post. The piece was written by both Pete and Chasten but in Pete's voice. "The agency explained that there were some sensitive circumstances and potential health complications for us to weigh, but also that we would need to quickly decide whether we were prepared to travel to the rural hospital and begin the process. And one more thing to consider: it was twins!"
Hours later, the two men were holding the children, who were born premature, in their arms. 
"Health issues meant nearly two anxious weeks in the hospital before we were discharged, but the day finally came," Pete writes.
According to the post, Penelope developed "severe reflux, terrifying us when she would stop breathing and turn purple in a matter of seconds." It had been previously announced that Joseph, who they nicknamed Gus, developed a respiratory infection as well. Now the Buttigieg family has revealed it was RSV and the entire family — including Pete and Chasten — soon got it.
While most of the family recovered, Gus's condition reached "critical" with the child being intubated. He was transferred to a children's hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he and the family stayed for days. Pete wrote that he was reminded of his father, "whose last days played out on a ventilator in an ICU room like this as he lost his battle with lung cancer." As this was all going on, he often still had to work. Gus stabilized after a week.
The children, now 1 year old, are both currently healthy.
As much of this was going on, the Buttigiegs were under attack by Republicans. Some accused Pete of not doing enough to fight the supply chain breakdowns and going on parental leave — much of which was spent in hospitals, according to this new information. The Buttigiegs have not publicly responded to the lion's share of those attacks, which have often stemmed from homophobia, suggesting that two men should not be parenting children together.

Agreed - I also had the same thoughts.
There was no ulterior motive behind the act - I am a realistic guy, not lonely nor looking for love, and I know he is a money boy and understand his line of work. I'm not trying to get better service or anything, merely just doing something nice because I appreciated our time together. But I do understand your sentiment.
Exactly!

From The Straits Times
 

Gay falangs get a good deal in Thailand for 99% of the time. There's nowhere in the world where beautiful guys , a night out, good dinner and hotel are so cheap.  And equally important, safe. The vast majority of us recognise this and are thankful for it.  It was entirely reasonable for Min to show sensitivity and concern. There really are guys in desperate situations, the like of which  few of us have faced. And sometimes  we may be exploited.
We make the decision to travel there, or even to live there; anyone not able to cope with the occasional (very occasional, in my twenty-five years experience) exploitative guy should stay at home and pay UK or US or European prices for beautiful guys, a night out and so on.  We are in someone else's country, where the vast majority of citizens are  much  poorer than us. Put up with it.  I hope we continue- and this forum suggests that most of us do- to take the seriously the feelings of the guys we meet, even if that sometimes makes us vulnerable to the occasional con-man. Just as Min did.
 
 
 

Yes, that view may not be welcomed by all but it is accurate. Bearing in mind that most of us are....well, getting on, I wonder how many gay falangs want to be in bars at 0400? 0r 0300? 0r even 0200?
When I was butterflying, it is true that sometimes I'd be in a bar with  an expat mate until 0200. But those were nights when I hadn't caught any fish and I was compensating. Most of us- and I wait to be corrected- are "otherwise engaged" at that time. In my case, sleeping-obviously- but others I assume are nestled in the arms of a beautiful companion. A better place to be than in a noisy bar with a sound system that forbids talking to anybody.
 
 

I don’t have social anxiety, I have a hearing problem. If a bar is too loud I have problems. I’m very comfortable talking to anyone if I can hear them. Sometimes I’ll just nod when in conversation because it’s embarrassing constantly asking what?, excuse me, etc.
I suppose the good news for me is that hearing aids no longer need a doctors prescription in the USA.

My gawd, earth-shattering news (for me), and on my birthday and last day in Bangkok at that:
NDR 2022: Govt will repeal Section 377A, decriminalise sex between men | The Straits Times
Words are failing me here .. I'm no longer a criminal in the eyes of my own country. 

A substantial age difference, coupled with cultural/language differences can be a prescription for disagreement and disappointment all-around.  I'll suggest that relatively few such relationships survive any length of time.  But, yes, there are those that do work - daddy/son - and financial and emotional security will almost always be the reasons - for the younger of the two and the financial support the farang will provide the younger man's family.  "Love", well, it's subjectively defined.  Many "straight" relationships are no different.  Money and other security is the glue that binds.  And, yes, each of us ... both sides of the relationship - take what we can for our own reasons.  Hopefully, we do this without abuse of any sort.

Invariably the boy and the farang will be looking for different things from any relationship. Farangs can easily fall in lust/love with their boy, but it is probably unrealistic to expect that a boy would lust after his farang unless there is only a small age difference?
The boy is more likely looking for financial security, maybe status, maybe travel opportunities etc; sex with his farang is just an accepted part of the package?
In the end it surely doesn't matter that each look for different things from the relationship; just as long as each gets what they want out of the relationship?
Or maybe I am just an old cynic? 🤣
 

Ok, now after the amazing night and long sleep I finally dragged myself from the comfort of the bed and down to meet my ride to Pattaya. As usual, I booked Nam's taxi the day before and my driver was waiting for me just before our scheduled time. 1200 baht and a 2-hour drive from my Bangkok hotel to East Suites.
Pattaya
I had already arranged my first rendezvous from Bangkok on Grindr, so when I arrived I had a quick shower and was deep in warm embrace within my first hour of being in Pattaya, off to a very good start!
After a while of relaxing as night was falling, I decided to go for a walk around Jomtien Complex. Wow! it is very busy compared to April,  I wouldn't say as busy as Songkran customer-wise, but definitely more guys/staff. It looks a lot less dreary with all of the lights on, and some new bars have popped up around the sois.
I decided to step into a Bu Bu bar, I didn't remember being there next to Dick's Cafe in April, but they had menus out the front and some nice welcoming staff. So I'll stop in for food and a drink, it turned out the menus were from the small restaurants across the soi. I went for the Thai menu made by Sofia's Thai, oh boy it was delicious! This Chicken Cashew was hands down the best I've had. I went back another night and tried some more dishes, it was consistently great food. I found Bu Bu was a good place to sit and order from, giving a good view of the edge of Soda Massage and the comings and goings of the guys headed to work in the bars.
As for the massage shops in the complex.
There's the small shop (I can't recall the name) on the Thappraya side of Dick's Cafe, only 2-4 staff, but they looked more muscular and suspect better at actual massage.
Soda Massage has a bright new sign above it, hard to count numbers but I think around 15+ staff, a mix of twinks and twunks.
Then the massage around the corner toward Agate (again, can't remember the name), around 10-15 guys mixed twinks, twunks, hunks. Some very hot guys here as well.
The Jomtien Complex bars between them had a LOOOOT of guys, I won't try to give estimates but I'd say something for everyone can be found there. Closing time is around 1-2am, then just as during April the party moves down to the beach where groups will sit around with drinks and food until the early hours.
Well, I'm back in Pattaya and I know there's a little gogo bar over in Sunee screaming my name, so at around 9pm I head over to Winner. 60baht and 5 minutes by motosai I'm headed down the darkened Sunee plaza with the shining lights and usual squeals of the boys from Winner filling the air. My happy place.
Now I won't sugar coat it too much, Winner has been struggling through covid. I often sat and talked with the owner at length in April and this trip about life and the bar, he's an absolute gem in my eyes, he cares for the staff and they care for him. However, there's a problem.. he is in a bit of a catch-22 situation, trying to keep enough staff to meet the customer demand without bleeding salary money in the quiet months after such a long time of having to keep the doors open with savings. Current guys in the bar is around 6-8, and they are all fantastic friendly cute guys (in white little speedos), but if it's a busy night and guys are being off'd it can be slim pickings. Get there early at 8-9 pm if you want to have the best shot at seeing all of them there. They don't tend to stand around on the podiums too long, they will mingle with the customers and run around the soi half naked to the food carts, so if you pop your head in and see an empty stage don't fret.
I spent most nights at Winner this trip, drinking and joking around with the guys, they're just good fun. The drink prices are cheap and no one is ever pushy, so I was content. I did have 3-4 of the guys in my sights, but I only ended up with 2 and repeating the second for a couple of nights.
I didn't make it to Boyztown at night, but when I did pass through on one early afternoon it looked a lot better. Ambiance is open again by the look of it, and all of the bars were setting up chairs out the front. Next trip I will dive back into BT and see what I can find in Toy Boys and the rest of this area. Time just wasn't on my side this trip.
I had daily massages at Soda Massage and the occasional Grindr meetup, performance was good on all accounts, not a single dud this time in Pattaya.
I'm reluctant to discuss this much, but I'll mention it. With the new laws regarding the decriminalization of the green flower, I decided to have a look at the offerings. I found the best shop was a dispensary one soi over from Sunee toward Tuckom called World Wide Weed (WWW), big selection and a friendly owner. I read some bad reviews about the shop(s) on walking street, maybe be cautious with them.
If you do partake there are some rules to remember, they can't sell prerolled but they have papers and anything else you need. You cannot smoke in public or in bars, it is a 25k baht fine if you smoke it on the beach, but your hotel balcony is ok or the dispensary has a dedicated space to sample your purchase. 750baht/g for most of the selection, allegedly the quality is very good.
I'm slowly trying every hotel in the Jomtien Complex, this time it was East Suites turn. The master room was very spacious, the price was really good, but no elevator, there was some noise pollution from the bars until 1 or 2 am, and I had to chase around a cockroach one night. Agate is still winning in my current standings, but Zing Resort is possibly next on my list to try.
TT money exchange down Thappraya towards the beach still has the best exchange rates in the area, comparable to the airport basement.
I think that's about all, I took Nam's taxi back to Swampy and check-in was fine but my flights were packed full again. A successful week that felt a lot longer., thanks for reading.

I spend a lot of time here and have not had the same impressions of the recent activity. Maybe we all see things through our own lenses

No, it wasn't boring at all. Please continue to post about your experience.
We all have our coming out stories and for many of our generation they are unhappy and sometimes very traumatic, Fortunately, my experience was a happy one.
I grew up in Japan from age 13. In my day it was a very conservative society (and to tell the truth, nothing much seems to have changed.)
I was always fearful of being "outed" at school because Japanese boys can be vicious if they turn on someone - they've got bullying down to a fine art. So I acted macho, made crude jokes about fucking girls, commented on how sexy certain girls were - you know what I mean.
As the only foreigner most of them had ever seen, apart from in the movies, I was the constant centre of attention, especially among the girls who would pass me notes in class (at that time I couldn't read them) leave gifts for me on my desk and most disconcertingly of all, stand around me in a circle and watch me eat my lunch.
Needless to say, this caused problems between me and the other guys who were jealous of my situation. They'd be thinking, why don't the girls pay attention to me? And I'd be thinking, why don't the boys pay attention to me?  Lol.
At school we stayed in the same classroom all day and the teachers used to come to us. There was a 10 minute break in between classes to go to the toilet (and for the boys to stand in front of the mirror and preen themselves!)
One day a boy told us to make sure we all gathered in the toilet because he had something to show us - something his older brother had taught him. It was the start of our group wanking sessions between classes. Being gay, it made school more fun than any school kid could imagine. I couldn't wait to get to school every day! 
There was one boy who, for some reason, I suspected of being gay. Of course, I never approached him in case he wasn't, but as it turned out he was and it was with him that I had my first sexual experience.
Being an only child, I was extremely close to my parents so when I decided to tell them that I was gay I didn't really think it would be a big deal. So at the dinner take I simply said something along the lines of  "I think I ought to tell you that I like boys, not girls." Funnily enough, I didn't know the word "gay", I only knew the Japanese word. 
Mum got up and gave me a big hug and dad said "Can you pass me the salt, please?" or something like that. Apart from dad telling me I should keep quiet about it, there was no further discussion. They were 100% supportive.
By the time those classmates had reached the last year of school they had grown out of  their bullying ways and I felt comfortable enough to come out to them. A few decided they no longer wanted to be friends with me - no loss there- but everyone else was fine. We are still all friends even to this day and if they have a major celebration I always fly up to Japan to be with them.
The important thing is, understand the society in which you live and act accordingly. The gay life I enjoyed in Tokyo was full-on and anything I've experienced in Thailand pales into insignificance. But you don't flaunt your sexuality if you are gay. (Heteros can, and do so all the time). Almost all activity takes place behind closed doors. I say "almost" because I was regularly groped on the train during rush hour, especially when I was a student. So apart from enjoying being at school, the journey there in the morning was also fun!
OK, that's enough. Except to say I'm so lucky to have had such understanding parents. Stories here and from my Aussie gay friends about family rejection is all so sad.

Your post has awakened some memories for me, not all of them pleasant. The steps I took to hide my feelings (not my actions, I hasten to add) embarrass me in recollection.
At the same time, I was aware of two associates at work who, I believed at the time, were harbouring similar secrets. They both married and had children.
I thank God for Pattaya every day of my life. To sit in Panorama of an evening a, surrounded by like-minded guys, and watch the go go dancers joking and making eyes at us on their way to work, with an evening of fun ahead...if I could choose  where to spend eternity, it would be there. 
Younger posters may find it hard to comprehend just how liberating Pattaya was to my generation, who had spent some of the best years of our lives in the closet.

Without being too specific, let's just say it was in the management of the arts, entertainment and related businesses. I think reading my posts some will certainly have guessed it was something like that. And knowing this, you can understand why I can never not work in some way or another. I was so fortunate in that my work was essentially my passion. As for all my travel, hardly a trip went by without my attending one or more operas, plays, musicals etc. In fact, I once flew from Bangkok to Chicago just to see an opera. Another time it was to Dresden.
Now I am quite heavily involved in writing with a first book published in March and a second one about to go to the printers.